


Coalescence

by Felloffalot



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: F/F, Fluff and Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-10
Updated: 2017-10-10
Packaged: 2019-01-15 17:33:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,029
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12325623
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Felloffalot/pseuds/Felloffalot
Summary: Himiko is confused, Tenko is stupid, and everything is just kind of a mess. Can love really bloom between two people who couldn’t be more different?Well, anything’s possible at the Ultimate Academy for Gifted Juveniles.





	Coalescence

**Author's Note:**

> As promised, a new Tenmiko fic, bigger, better, and gayer.
> 
> Big thanks to Misssxtake for betaing this.

 

It was a normal enough day in the dining hall of the Ultimate Academy for Gifted Juveniles. (As normal as you can get when a killing game’s going on.) Everybody else was off doing something or other; screwing around in their labs, hanging out with each other, or just being boring and staying in their rooms. There sat Himiko and Tenko, eating together and talking about nothing, as had become routine for the both of them. But today, Himiko noted… something felt a little off.

Tenko was being weirdly quiet. She was staring at nothing, and barely even touching her food. It seemed as if she was thinking about something. But when does Tenko ever think? It was a little alarming, Himiko thought. Against her better judgement, she reached out and tugged on Tenko’s sleeve, and received a jolt of surprise in response.

“H-Huh?” Tenko turned to face Himiko, looking just the littlest bit shocked. “Himiko? What’s wrong?”

“Nyeh? I should be the one asking that… You’re acting weird, Tenko.” _Weirder than usual_ , Himiko thought, but she neglected to add that part.

“Oh, um…” Tenko scratched her neck. “I was just thinking about that trick you showed me yesterday! I still can’t figure out how you did it, ahaha!” Tenko let out a laugh. Himiko thought it was probably fake.

“That’s ‘cause it wasn’t a trick, it was _magic._ ”

“Oh, right… I must’ve forgotten.” Tenko returned her blank gaze to the table, her smile turning back into a frown. Himiko pouted, aware that this useless exchange was a product of Tenko choosing to be dishonest. She let out a soft sigh. Nothing to be done about it, she supposed.

It was then that Tenko spoke, her eyes kept on the table. “Hey, Himiko. How would you feel if I said that I’ve been lying to you?”

“You mean like just now?” Tenko winced, apparently a little embarrassed by Himiko picking up on her dishonesty. Himiko shrugged. “Nyeh… I guess it depends on what you’ve been lying about.”

“Well, y’see.” Tenko pushed the tips of her index fingers together, as she is known to do. “I feel like we’ve been meeting under false pretenses. I didn’t mean to trick you, or anything like that, but I think I’ve been deceiving you for a while.” At that point, the room grew silent. Fortunate for Himiko, who was beginning to grow frustrated with Tenko’s roundaboutness. A few seconds passed with neither speaking, before the sound of Tenko taking a deep breath broke the silence.

“Himiko… I like you.”

Himiko tilted her head in a show of confusion. “You mean in a friendly wa-“

“I-In a sexual way!” Himiko was taken by surprise when Tenko suddenly stood up and turned to face her, Tenko’s face just a few inches from Himiko’s own, an intense blush on Tenko’s face. If Himiko didn’t know any better, she’d almost say she could feel her heart skip a beat.

“I-I’m sorry, I-I-I don’t want to make you uncomfortable, o-or anything, b-but I thought you should k-know…” Tenko’s eyes darted from side the side, with a look on her face that indicated she wanted a trap door to open up under her and she didn’t care where it went. “I’M SORRYYYYYY!” Tenko yelled, choosing flight over fight, making a mad dash for the entrance to the dining hall. Himiko had to grab onto her hat, nearly blown away by the gust of wind Tenko’s abscond had created.

In that moment, Himiko felt a large mixture of emotions; embarrassment, frustration, confusion, and perhaps the slightest tinge of happiness. (But anybody would feel happy when being told somebody liked them, right?)

Himiko sighed. _This is annoying_ , she thought.

* * *

 

In the next few days, Tenko couldn’t be any more obvious in her efforts to avoid Himiko. If Himiko was first to the dining hall, Tenko would make sure to pick a seat far away from her; and if Tenko was first, she would always get up and leave when Himiko arrived. Tenko would always take a wide turn to avoid passing by Himiko around the academy, and she was sure to never make direct eye contact. (Not that that stopped Himiko from spotting Tenko staring at her from across the dining hall occasionally.)

Himiko was frustrated. Why should she have to deal with the consequences of Tenko’s feelings? Not that she looked forward to hanging out with Tenko, or anything… but she felt frustrated by the awkward atmosphere that Tenko brought wherever she went.

To avoid that awkward atmosphere, Himiko made the only reasonable decision and locked herself in her room, away from all human contact. She wouldn’t have to deal with how Tenko felt if she never _saw_ Tenko, right? That solution would only work for so long, but it was better than anything else Himiko could come up with… Dealing with your emotions and conflicts in a reasonable, adult manner required too much effort, after all.

It was when Himiko was lazing on her bed, her experience with Tenko a few days prior replaying in her head, that she heard a knock and a male voice at her door.

“Himiko! Is Gonta!” One insect-loving goof had shown up at Himiko’s doorstep. Well, Gonta’s a nice enough guy, certainly better than somebody like Korekiyo or, Atua forbid, _Kokichi_ showing up, and Himiko thought he at least probably wasn’t here to confess his love for her and run away. Himiko got up and lazily made her way to the door.

“Nyeh… Gonta.” True to his word, Gonta was standing there, almost as tall as the door frame, a relieved look on his face.

“Oh, thank goodness! When Himiko not show up at dining hall this morning, Gonta think, ‘How Himiko get MP if she not eat?’, but it seem Himiko alright anyway.” Gonta let out a sigh of relief, and turned to leave. “Then Gonta will take his leav-“ Gonta was interrupted by a tug on his sleeve, performed by none other than Himiko.

Himiko wasn’t entirely sure why she reached out to stop Gonta in that moment, but something in her body told her it was the right thing to do. “No… Come in.” Gonta was a bit taken aback by Himiko’s request, but nonetheless followed the magician to her bed and sat next to her on the side, their legs hanging off, careful to sit down carefully as to not break the bed.

“Gonta is surprised.” Gonta said, crossing his arms. “Himiko usually not want to talk to Gonta. Gonta think Himiko maybe not like Gonta!”

“Nyeh… It’s not like that… Talking to people drains my MP really fast. That’s why I can’t do it too much…”

“Gonta thought that, but then, why Himiko always talk to Tenko?” Himiko felt a slight pang in her heart. Gonta, for his part, put his hand on his chin. “Mystery indeed.”

“Nyeeeeeeh…” Himiko fidgeted awkwardly, an empty feeling setting in as memories of the past few days were forcibly recalled. Gonta didn’t seem to notice.

“Gonta glad you want to talk to him, though. Gonta worry since Gonta not see Tenko and Himiko together in while.” Gonta turned to face Himiko, and the look of genuine concern on his face only made Himiko feel more awkward. “Gonta wonder if maybe Tenko and Himiko had fight?”

“Nyeh… I wouldn’t really call it a fight, but…” Himiko pouted. “What do you do when somebody forces their feelings onto you, and you have to deal with the consequences?”

“Hmm… Can’t Himiko just use magic to fix situation?”

“Magic can’t alter people’s feelings… It’s one of the fundamental rules, y’know.”

“Oh!” Gonta was shocked! “In that case… Gonta actually went through something very like that. When Gonta live in forest, with family, brother eat Gonta’s food! Gonta get mad! Brother mad too! Gonta and brother not want to speak!” Gonta smiled wistfully, recalling times gone by. “But after few days, Gonta think… does Gonta really want this to be how things are? Sure, not Gonta’s fault, but if Gonta let this go on, he and brother never make up…”

Gonta stood up! “So, Gonta decided, Gonta need to be bigger man! Gonta need to make up with brother if he want things to be how they used to!”

“So… you decided you would talk with him, even though it wasn’t your fault?”

“Oh, no, not talk!” Gonta laughed. “We wrestle in dirt until we too tired to continue… But Himiko probably just want to talk.”

“Yeah… Wrestling sounds like too much work.”

“Gonta point is, Himiko need to decide what she want. If Himiko want things to get better, she should act on those feelings, even if not Himiko’s fault. Things might not change if Himiko not make them change.”  

“Nyeh…” Himiko had to admit, that was surprisingly smart, especially for Gonta. “I guess… you’re right.”

“Gonta hope so.” Satisfied, Gonta moved towards the door, preparing for his leave. “If Himiko made up her mind, Gonta will go. And if Himiko ever need Gonta’s help again, he’ll be there faster than can say ‘Lumbricus terrestris’!”

“Right…” Himiko smiled, for the first time in a while. “Thanks, Gonta.” Gonta smiled, nodded, and closed the door behind him.

Himiko sat in silence for a few moments before sighing, nodding, and jumping off her bed. This will be annoying… but probably not as annoying as starving to death so she wouldn’t have to see Tenko, she thought.

* * *

 

Tenko had been pacing around in the courtyard for… half an hour? A full hour? She’d lost track at this point. Enough time for dusk to become nighttime and the 10 PM announcement to be impending.

If anybody asked, she _definitely_ wasn’t pacing because she spotted Himiko entering the academy earlier, and she obviously wasn’t waiting for Himiko to leave before she went in. That would just be absurd. The only type of person who would suggest as such would have to be-

A degenerate male! Touched Tenko, right on her hip! Tenko turned, ready to throw the offender six feet straight through the ground, right into their awaiting grave-

Wait. “T-Tsumugi?!” There stood the blue-haired cosplayer, looking a little bit freaked out due to Tenko grabbing her arm. Tenko stood frozen for a second before quickly letting go and backing up a bit. “I’m sorry, I thought you must have been a degenerate male, trying to assault me while I was distracted!”

“Oh, don’t worry about it!” Tsumugi chuckled, the surprise worn off. “I was going to surprise you when you went into the academy, but I waited fifteen minutes and you weren’t going in, so I had to improvise.”

“O-Oh, I’m… sorry you had to wait so long?” Tenko wasn’t sure if she had to apologize for that, but she did just to be safe. “I was going to go in eventually, of course, I was just-“

“You were just waiting for Himiko to leave before you went in, I know.”

“H-Huh?!” Shock! Kuma shock! How could Tsumugi possibly know?! “N-No, that’s not it!”

“Tenko, it doesn’t take an Ultimate Detective to figure out you two have been avoiding each other.” Tsumugi smiled smugly, and sat on the courtyard’s stairs. “C’mon, sit with me. We’re gonna talk about this, whether you like it or not.”

Tenko considered her options, knowing that her options were either talking to Tsumugi or returning to her room hungry and depressed, and she chose the latter. She sat on the stairs.

“Well… you’re right. I’ve been avoiding Himiko… and I guess Himiko’s been avoiding me.” Tenko explained the whole shebang; at some point in time, her feelings of friendship and admiration for Himiko may have shifted into something more, and it’s not like she _meant_ to fall in love with Himiko, but she’s just so small and cute and adorable and Tenko just couldn’t help herself, but not being able to help herself caused her to reveal her feelings to the magician and now everything’s a mess!

Tsumugi nodded along, and when Tenko finished, she pushed her glasses closer to her eyes. “I see, I see… Tenko, when did you turn into a generic, dense yuri protagonist?” Tsumugi sighed and put one of her hands on her cheek.

“Huh?! What’s that supposed to mean?! You’re gonna say that after I poured my heart out to you?!”

“What it means is that you’re suddenly acting like a character ripped straight out of the pages of Yuri Hime.” Tsumugi shook her head. “A useless lesbian who just knows that her love interest can’t possibly return her feelings, so she runs away out of fear… It’s a tried and true archetype.”

“Hey, I’m not some fictional character! This is a real problem!”

“I know, I know. But the point is, those character usually really annoy people. And you know why?” Tenko tilted her head. She didn’t know why. “Because they’re stupid, Tenko. _You’re_ being stupid.”

Tenko gasped! She was being stupid all along?! Avoiding her best friend and crush out of fear and not talking it out _wasn’t_ the most reasonable course of action?!

“Consider how Himiko must feel. You suddenly drop this bombshell on her, and now she’s left to deal with the fallout of your decision. You’re not even giving her the opportunity to reject her, or even worse, the opportunity to accept you if she _does_ return your feelings.” Tenko felt the grasp of shame. Tsumugi had a pretty damn good point, she had to admit.

“But Himiko’s an apathetic girl, so I doubt she’d straight up reject you. At that point, she becomes the Kobayashi to your Tohru.” Tenko didn’t really get what that meant, but she let Tsumugi continue. “Tohru never gives up even though Kobayashi doesn’t reciprocate her feelings, and slowly but surely, she makes leeway. And Tohru basically has a wife and daughter after a while, so I guess it worked out for her…”

Tsumugi shook her head a bit. “But that’s beside the point. You’re never gonna get anywhere if you deny Himiko a response because you’re afraid of it. Whether she rejects you or not, you have to face her head-on if you want to have any sort of relationship again – and even if you don’t, that’s not a decision you should be making by yourself.”

Tenko thought deeply for a few moments. “You’re… you’re right. I can’t just avoid her forever…” A smile crept onto her face. “You know a lot about this stuff, huh, Tsumugi?”

Tsumugi smirked. “When you’re as familiar with arbitrary yuri plots as I am, you know better than anybody how to resolve them.” Tenko wasn’t sure whether or not that was something to be proud of.

“Alright,” Tenko cried out! “I’ll face Himiko head on, and tell her that I want to be friends again, even if… even if I have to give up on these feelings!” Tenko stood up and clenched a fist! “I can do that! It’s the least I can do after everything I’ve done to her…”

“Right!” Tsumugi stood up as well! “And if things aren’t looking good for you, then just hit her with a line that’ll make her melt, like, ‘I think of you when I mastu-‘”

“O-Okay, I get it!” Tenko dashed off, up the stairs and towards the academy, where Himiko (presumably) was. Good or bad, right or wrong, she had made a decision to face Himiko head-on, even if things could only end badly for her. There was no other course of action.

Tsumugi smiled. “Somehow, Tenko… I have this feeling that you’ll succeed.”

* * *

 

Not in the dining hall. Not in the gym. Not hiding in one of the bathroom stalls, not even one of the men’s. Not in any of the classrooms, nor the Ultimate labs… Himiko had checked just about every available corner of the academy for Tenko’s whereabouts, but she was turning up empty. She was about ready to leave, try again tomorrow, when-

Wham! Bam! Busting through the front door of the academy, none other than the Ultimate Aikido Master herself! Himiko was nearly hit, both by the door and the rushing Tenko herself, but her S-Tier luck meant she narrowly avoided both. Once more, she grabbed her hat, yet again nearly blown off by the sudden gust.

“H-Himiko!” Tenko blurted out, grabbing Himiko’s hands with her own. “I’m sorry! Are you hurt?! Did I-“

“Nyeh… I’m fine.” Himiko responded. Tenko’s hands are warm, she thought. “More importantly…” Himiko gripped onto Tenko’s left hand with her own right with as much force as her small little body could muster, and dragged Tenko out the front door. (Well, more like ‘lead a willing participant out the front door’, but still.) “C’mon. We’re gonna talk.”

Tenko felt a blush forming on her face. Himiko, her precious Himiko, was holding her hand! A bold move, but not an unwelcome one, Tenko thought… but at the same time, she felt a growing dread. Himiko wanting to talk… Himiko actually taking initiative for once… Strange things were occurring because of Tenko’s actions.

“O-Okay.” Tenko said.

* * *

 

Himiko’s room was about as messy as Tenko had expected it to be. Boxes of who-knows-what and haphazardly placed personal possessions littered the floor, forcing Tenko to tip-toe carefully across towards Himiko’s bed, like a soldier in a field of landmines. She stood awkwardly in front of Himiko, who had already taken position on the side of her bed.

Himiko sighed and patted the space next to her. “C’mon, sit down.”

“Oh. Please excuse me!” Tenko hurriedly sat down, with enough force to make Himiko jump slightly. Her anxiety was palpable.

As Himiko had expected, Tenko was still carrying that aura of awkwardness. She had a look on her face that made it obvious that she was too anxious and nervous to speak, and her hands were shaking.

As Tenko had expected, she had no idea what Himiko was thinking. Was she angry? Upset? Confused? Even happy? That neutral look on the magician’s face betrayed whatever she currently may be feeling.

It was now or never. Speak up, or forever hold your peace. This awkward silence had to end eventually, and so, she might as well be the one to do it.

“Tenko, I…”

“Himiko, I…”

Oh. That’s awkward.

“O-Oh, I’m sorry, Himiko, you-“

“Nyeh… You go first.”

Tenko stopped talking and nodded, quickly moving her head as to break eye contact with Himiko. She cleared her throat and attempted to gather her now jumbled thoughts.

“Well, Himiko, I think I’ve been… really unfair to you. Dumping all my feelings on you, and running away because I was afraid of what you might think of me…” Tenko sulked where she sat, staring at the ground. “It was wrong. I’m sorry.”

“Nyeh… I guess… I’m sorry too.” Tenko perked up at that. Himiko was sorry? For what? “I mean, it’s not my fault, and all… but I did avoid you. I didn’t wanna deal with how you felt… or how it made me feel.”

“I-I’m sorry…” Tenko interrupted Himiko. A bit rude, Himiko thought. “Did I make you uncomfortable?”

“It’s not like that. I was confused, and kinda angry, but I don’t think it’s weird or gross if you like girls... or even if you like me.” Himiko shrugged. “You’re a weird person, but that part specifically isn’t weird. It’s just… who you are.”

In that moment, Tenko was elated. Not even the comment about her being weird could prevent that. “Then, if you’re okay with it!” Tenko turned to make eye contact, and outstretched her hand towards Himiko. “I’d like to go back to how we were before!”

But Himiko didn’t take Tenko’s hand. She looked from the hand, back to Tenko, back to the hand, back to Tenko. Tenko found her smile replaced by a look of worry and confusion, unsure of what Himiko’s apprehension meant.

“… No.”

“Huh?!” Tenko recoiled in shock! “N-No?!”

“No. I’m tired of always being dragged along by you and your impulses, Tenko… and somebody told me I need to figure out what I want, and go for it.” Himiko took off her hat, and set it to the side. She was in super serious mode now. “Even if it’s more work for me… I’m gonna try for what I want for once.”

“Umm…” Tenko slowly retracted her hand, and felt a bit of sweat forming. That feeling of anxiety was coming back in full force. “O-Okay. Whatever it is you want,” Tenko closed her eyes and clenched a fist, preparing for the worst, “I’ll go along with it, Himiko. No matter what.”

“Okay.” Himiko took a breath. Here it comes.

“Let’s go out.”

Tenko sniffled, covered her eyes with her arm, and hurried out of Himiko’s bed. “I understand! Then I suppose… this is goodbye…!” Tenko rushed to the entrance of Himiko’s room, and Himiko raised an eyebrow in confusion. Tenko made it about halfway out the door before she paused, turned back, slammed the door behind her, and suddenly rushed back towards Himiko, trampling a box or two of magic tools in her way, and got right up into Himiko’s face.

“W-W-Wa-Wait, what did you just say?!” The sweat was now fully formed and running down Tenko’s face in excess, an exaggerated look of shock and confusion on her face.

“N-Nyeh…” Himiko backed up a bit, Tenko a bit too close for comfort. “I-I said… let’s go out…”

“N-N-No, there’s no way! I thought for sure you would tell me you never wanted to see my face again!”

“That’d probably be pretty hard, considering how small this academy is…”

“B-But why- I mean, how, I mean-“

“Tenko, calm down…!” Himiko grabbed Tenko by the shoulders and pushed her back a bit, trying to create some distance. Tenko backed up, blinked a few times, shook her head, and slapped her cheeks. “Breathe… just breathe.”

Tenko took a few deep breaths, in, out, in, out. She wiped the sweat from her forehead, and took one last big breath. “Okay… okay. Himiko, if it’s alright for me to ask… why?”

“We can’t go back to how things were before… we can pretend that this never happened, but that awkward atmosphere is still gonna exist, y’know? I don’t want things to be weird between us ‘cause we’re both trying to pretend your feelings for me don’t exist…” Tenko nodded, but Himiko noted disappointment in her expression, like she wasn’t entirely satisfied with that answer.

“And… I don’t think I’d mind going out with you, Tenko.”

Tenko gulped, and put a hand on her chest. “Very well then! If it’s alright with you, Himiko…” Tenko paused for a second, seemingly deciding what to do, before pulling Himiko up into an inescapable hug. “I’ll definitely make you the happiest magician in the world!”

“Mhm…” Himiko said, barely able to breathe in Tenko’s grip, “I believe you…”

Tenko hugged Himiko for only a few seconds more, but it seemed like an eternity from Himiko’s perspective. When she set her down, Tenko stared directly into Himiko’s eyes, a huge smile formed on her face. Her enthusiasm was infectious; Himiko couldn’t help but smile back.

“But y’know, I’m a mage, not a magician.”

“Oh, right!” Tenko laughed. (Himiko wondered if her laugh was always that cute.) “I must’ve forgotten.”

The two stood for a few moments, in a silence that couldn’t be considered awkward so much as one of understanding. There needed to be no words in those moments. In that moment, they had become one.

Moment killer that she was, Himiko broke the silence. “So… what now?”

“Oh… I didn’t think that far ahead.” Tenko wanted to think, but her body disagreed with the notion, and a growl emanated from her stomach. “... I also haven’t eaten since yesterday.”

Himiko sighed, yet again, and grabbed Tenko’s hand, also yet again. To the dining hall they go.

“Nyeh… You can be really stupid.”

“You’re not the first person to tell me that today!” But Tenko knew that if she had never made a stupid decision in the first place, none of this would have happened. Maybe being an idiot has its benefits sometimes.

**Author's Note:**

> The ending to this was almost very different. The thing about "becoming one" would become a lot more appropriate, lemme tell ya.
> 
> The chronology of a fic like this is always weird. How can I write some cute, fluffy, romantic shit when people are dying left and right? I hope you could suspend your disbelief and pretend this is a happy fun timeline where nobody dies and everything is great. (Admittedly, I probably should've set this in a non-killing game setting. Oh well.)


End file.
